Hotel at the Lafayette, Trademark Collection by Wyndham

What to Expect Before You Book

Most travelers assume the Lafayette is a standard mid-tier chain hotel dressed up in Wyndham branding. That's the wrong read. The building at 391 Washington Street is one of Buffalo's architectural landmarks — a Beaux-Arts structure from 1904 that gives you something no downtown Buffalo business hotel can replicate: genuine visual weight the moment you walk through the door. If you're staying in Buffalo and the room is just a place to sleep, book elsewhere at a lower price point. If where you sleep actually matters to you, the Lafayette earns its keep on atmosphere alone.

First-timers should know that the lobby sets a tone the rooms work hard to match. High ceilings, ornate detailing, and the bones of a century-old grand hotel are the main event here. The Trademark Collection by Wyndham positioning means you get independent-feeling character with chain-level booking reliability — a useful combination for travelers who want something distinct without gambling on an unknown boutique operator. Think of it as the architectural middle ground between the fully independent character of The Richardson Hotel and the polished predictability of a full-service Marriott.

Location at Washington Street puts you squarely in downtown Buffalo, walkable to the Theater District and close enough to the waterfront and Canalside that you won't need a car for most evenings. For context on what else the city has going on, see our full Buffalo experiences guide. If you're planning around dining, our full Buffalo restaurants guide covers the options worth your time near the hotel.

Booking is easy , no waiting list, no months-out reservation windows of the kind you'd face at, say, Amangiri in Canyon Point or Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. The Lafayette is available on standard channels and rarely sells out far in advance outside peak summer weekends and Bills game weekends in the fall.

The bottom line for first-timers: if you want the most characterful address in downtown Buffalo without the boutique-inn intimacy of InnBuffalo off Elmwood or the mansion-scale experience of The Mansion on Delaware Avenue, the Lafayette is the right call. It's the city's most visually striking hotel option in the downtown core, and it books without drama.